Gradient Investments LLC Lowers Stake in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Gradient Investments LLC reduced its stake in shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD – Get Rating) by 52.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 51,984 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after selling 56,874 shares during the quarter. Gradient Investments LLC’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $16,420,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Home Depot in the first quarter valued at about $563,524,000. Public Investment Fund bought a new stake in shares of Home Depot in the second quarter valued at about $450,346,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Home Depot by 14.5% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,729,735 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $3,211,731,000 after acquiring an additional 1,361,660 shares in the last quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Home Depot in the third quarter valued at about $341,915,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Home Depot by 1.1% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 94,440,614 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $26,059,943,000 after purchasing an additional 1,011,858 shares in the last quarter. 68.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on HD shares. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of Home Depot from $320.00 to $300.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 15th. Cowen reduced their target price on shares of Home Depot from $379.00 to $360.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 22nd. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on Home Depot in a research note on Tuesday, December 6th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $337.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America dropped their price target on Home Depot from $360.00 to $346.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 22nd. Finally, Roth Mkm dropped their price target on Home Depot from $312.00 to $292.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 22nd. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $331.45.

Home Depot Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of HD opened at $288.39 on Friday. The Home Depot, Inc. has a 52-week low of $264.51 and a 52-week high of $347.25. The company has a market capitalization of $295.23 billion, a PE ratio of 17.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.93. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $310.70 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $303.66. The company has a quick ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 26.86.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 21st. The home improvement retailer reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.26 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $35.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36 billion. Home Depot had a return on equity of 4,929.40% and a net margin of 10.87%. The company’s revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.21 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.85 EPS for the current year.

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 9th will be issued a dividend of $2.09 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 8th. This is a boost from Home Depot’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.90. This represents a $8.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.90%. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.12%.

About Home Depot

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The Home Depot, Inc engages in the sale of building materials and home improvement products. Its products include building materials, home improvement products, lawn and garden products and decor products. The firm operates through the following geographical segments: U.S., Canada and Mexico. It offers home improvement installation services, and tool and equipment rental.